Chardonnay is the perfect accompaniment to chicken. Photo / Doug Sherring
Chardonnay is the perfect accompaniment to chicken. Photo / Doug Sherring
Seifried Estate Chardonnay
Don: Chardonnay is a glorious food wine, because it covers a lot of flavour bases. Elements of tropical fruit, cream, toast and even nuts are typically present. This means you can safely reach for a bottle whether you're cooking fish, chicken, pork or even something like beefcarpaccio or venison medallions. This example from Seifried is a gutsy chardonnay without being overly oaked, so it gives plenty of flavour without drying out the palate too much. It also has a lovely creamy character that works perfectly with pasta dishes too.
Chicken pasta with bread and walnut crumbs
Serves 4
1 Toast off some bread chunks in the oven to crisp and colour them.
2 Lightly toast some walnut halves. Allow these to cool, then process the two to give chunky crumbs.
3 Put some water on to boil and cook some pasta. I used the large shell shapes.
4 Slice 4 boned skinless chicken thighs into bite-sized pieces.
5 Sear these in a heavy-based pan and when they have a bit of colour, add some chicken stock and half a wine glass of chardonnay. Simmer the chicken in this to cook through.
6Once cooked, swirl some cream through the sauce, season well and transfer to your serving bowls.
